Ablation Measurements Using Ni-Like Ag X-Ray Laser Transmission

Abstract. Results of a recent experiment to measure laser ablation rates from solid targets consisting of thin (50 nm) Fe at irradiances of ~ 2×1013 Wcm−2 are presented. A Ni-like Ag X-ray laser at 13.9 nm was utilised to probe the targets and measurements of the transmission of the X-ray laser through the target were recorded by a flat-field spectrometer. The laser ablation rate is determined by the transmission of the X-ray laser through the remaining, unablated, iron layer. A self-regulating model of laser ablation is fitted to the experimental data to give a value of the absorption, A, of the heating laser in the target plasma of A = 0.01.